Ares (Hercules episode)
Encyclopedia
"Ares" is the fifth episode of the first season of the television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles...

. Written by Steve Roberts and directed by Harley Cokeliss
Harley Cokeliss
Harley Cokeliss is a director, producer, writer and actor born February 11, 1945 in San Diego, California.- Filmography :* Paris Connections : director* An Angel for May : director...

, it first aired in the United States on February 13, 1995.

Overview

Ares
Ares (Hercules and Xena)
Ares is a character on the television shows Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Young Hercules. He was portrayed by New Zealand actor Kevin Tod Smith...

 plans to form an army of children as part of his bid to cover the world in war without end. Naturally, it falls to Hercules to stop his evil half-brother.

Plot synopsis

Hercules strolls through a battlefield with cadaver soldiers on the ground. He comes to a soldier, Gregor, who is badly wounded. Gregor tells Hercules to kill him now. Hercules says he is not there to harm him. When Hercules introduces himself, Gregor asks him if he will grant him his dying wish. He gives Hercules his medallion to give to his wife and son, Janista and Titus, and ask Hercules to tell his son, "The art of a warrior is not to kill, but to fight against the forces of evil." With this request made, he dies as Hercules promises that he will do as he asks. Elsewhere Titus and his friend are out hunting. In the forest they try to kill a deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, but are unable to even get anywhere near it. They meet a soldier who gives them weapons, as they hold them a wind blows about them and in the temple of Ares, we hear him laughing. The soldier says they need to prove they deserve the power of being a warrior and to prove it they should kill each other. They look at each other, and strike at each other with their new weapons.

As the two boys fight, the soldier encourages them. As the other boy strikes, Titus dodges the blow and manages to escape. Later, Hercules arrives at the town where Janista and Titus live, he tells her about her husband. She thanks him for coming so far to tell her and offers him a place to rest and some food to eat. While resting at their home, Hercules offers to help out, as all the town's men are away at war. Hercules sets off to the local blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

, where he meets Atalanta
Atalanta
Atalanta is a character in Greek mythology.-Legend:Atalanta was the daughter of Iasus , a Boeotian or an Arcadian princess . She is often described as a goddess. Apollodorus is the only one who gives an account of Atalanta’s birth and upbringing...

. She ask him who he is and when he tells her he is Hercules, she challenges him to an arm wrestling
Arm wrestling
Arm wrestling is a sport with two participants. Each participant places one arm on a surface with their elbows bent and touching the surface, and they grip each other's hand...

 match as she says, "you're big and you look fit, but there's only one way to tell for sure." Hercules asks Atalanta if she can tell him where he can find Titus and his friend Ximenos. Elsewhere the soldier, Aurelius, asks Ximenos if he is ready to join Ares' army, he says he is, and the soldier brands
Human branding
Human branding or stigmatizing is the process in which a mark, usually a symbol or ornamental pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent. This is performed using a hot or very cold branding iron...

 him with Ares' mark, in the night sky, the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 turns red and a skull appears as Ares laughs. Back at the forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

, Atalanta is possessed
Spiritual possession
Spirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour...

 by Ares, and begins making swords for his army.

Hercules finds Titus, who has been searching for Ximenos. Hercules says he will help Titus look. Later, Hercules takes Titus home and begins work on the roof as he had promised. Ximoenos tries to convince Titus to join Ares' army with him, but Titus is unsure. While Hercules is repairing the roof, Atalanta comes and explains that she had been possessed by something, but had no idea what. Hercules wonders if Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...

 is involved. He breaks into an old temple of Hera's, and sees that a sacrifice
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...

 has been made recently and deduces that recent events have been the work of Ares. Ximenos takes Titus to Aurelius and they ask him if he wants to join Ares' army, but he says he has to help Hercules fix the roof and runs off. Aurelius goes to the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

 he has set up in honor of Ares and asks him for his presence. He tells Ares about Hercules' involvement.

Hercules walk into the house to find Janista reading the letter that Hercules had given her from her husband. Aurelius deceives Titus, telling him that Hercules killed his father and that he will take advantage of his mother. Titus runs to get Hercules, telling him he knows where the swords Atalanta made went. Hercules wonders how he knew about the swords, then notices the brand of Ares of his arm. Titus then runs off and Hercules follows, running into a trap. Hercules is then ambushed by Ares' child army. Hercules fights them off, but is then trapped when some of the army push a pile of boulders on top of him.

Janista sees Atalanta and asks her if she has seen Titus or Hercules, she says he has not seen Titus. They find Hercules under the rubble and dig him out, he tells the two women that Titus led him into the trap, as he is now under Ares' control. Back at home, Titus takes his father's sword. Janista asks if he will kill her too, he replies, "Warriors of Ares don't kill women." She asks for the sword back and he defies her. She tells him Hercules is still alive and he runs off to go after him. Atalanta and Hercules go after the army of boys. At the altar, Ares tells Aurelius that Hercules is not dead and that Aurelius must use Ares' blood to kill Hercules. As Hercules and Atalanta are walking along looking for the army of children, Atalanta is possessed by Ares again and she and Hercules fight. Hercules is able to defeat Atalanta and Ares vacates her body. Hercules, Janista and Atalanta arrive at the army's camp and Hercules says their time is up.

At this point Ares causes vines to grow and they wrap themselves around Hercules, Janista and Atalanta. With the three now bound, Titus and Ximenos approach to kill Hercules. Hercules tells Titus and Ximenos to think about their fathers, who fought against the very evil Ares stands for. Hercules manages to break free from the vines and asks the boys which side they are on. They side with Hercules and he fights with Aurelius. Aurelius begs Ares for his help against Hercules, at his request Ares makes himself present. He and Hercules fight and as he is fighting, Titus gives Hercules his father's sword, which he thrusts into the chest of Ares. Ares falls to the ground and his body explodes while a disembodied voice cries, "Next time, Hercules. Next time." With the God of War, now defeated, Hercules tells the boys to return to their villages and that they should fight for peace and not war. Hercules says goodbye to Janista, Titus and Ximenos. Hercules tells Titus that his father had told him about fighting against the forces of evil. He tells Titus, "Then you'll grow up to be the man your father wanted you to be." Atalanta says goodbye by kissing Hercules, telling him to "come back and see me sometime."

Continuity

  • Mark Newnham plays Ares, with a giant and rather monstrous appearance in this episode, but he was later replaced by Kevin Smith, with a more human look, in the third season.
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